Chatham kickboxer Matt Simms has been invited to participate in the forthcoming World Championships in Croatia.

Simms, pictured, fights out of the Unique Kickboxing Club in the town and was invited after achieving an impressive double at an event in Ashford.

He will represent England during the event in mid-July.

Scouts watched on as the 28-year-old third dan black belt won not only the kickboxing tournament but also the mixed martial arts event.

He said: "The scouts said I would be eligible and I would have been stupid to turn them down. Even if I don’t manage a top-three in Croatia, it is an achievement just to be going."

More than 1,500 fighters are scheduled to descend on the town of Varazdin.

Simms hadn’t fought competitively for two years but kept in trim at the Unique gym, where he helps keep professional boxers Joe Elfidh and Adam Dingsdale in peak condition.

"It’s a multi-purpose gym and it means the boxers get to spar with some unorthodox opponents, who are told to just not kick when facing them," Simms said.

"Facing a kickboxer can open up new horizons for them."